The Wormhole in My Mind
by TheMooseIsLoose
Summary: Carl Sagan fanfic. Is that a thing? Well, it is now. After finding a golden ticket allowing travel in space and time, with a guest alive, dead, or fictional, I go on an adventure with Carl Sagan through the cosmos.
1. From Hubble Beginnings

Prologue – From Hubble Beginnings

7:00 AM on a dull Saturday morning.

"Do you think that the Dodgers are going anywhere this year?"

"Not likely, Mike. Anything past the—"

I shut off the radio. Awake but groggy, it was my weekend ritual to arise before the rest of my family. Why my alarm was set to morning sports talk radio I wasn't completely sure. I didn't much care for sports.

After lumbering to the bathroom and freshening up for the day, I proceeded down the stairs to the kitchen. Sneaking about so as to avoid waking the rest of the house, I got myself a green plastic bowl filled to the brim with cereal and milk. The morsels of food crunched deliciously, though all the mattered was getting enough nutrients to last me through until lunchtime at two.

Clearing the dirty dish and spoon to the sink, I gathered up my book of the day as well as a simple blue lawn chair in a canvas bag. While most weekends consisted of much the same, it was a calming, centering time to both reflect and expand my mind. Setting up camp in the backyard, I made an impulse decision. Not in my usual spot, I chose a patch of grass and unfolded my chair. Something in the air screamed to me: different.

_Hello, Carl. Good to see you again._

I sighed into my seat with an old, raggedy copy of Carl Sagan's _Cosmos_. I picked it up at a yard sale a few years previous and from that moment forward, my life changed forever. My focus turned to science and the beauty of the universe in both my free time and my academic studies. I could never hope to be as brilliant, eloquent, or educated as Sagan was, but giving up before trying was a surefire path to failure.

I read many books on Saturday mornings, but my favorites, by far, were always those written by Sagan, Hawking, and Feynman. While waiting for holds to come in to the public library, I'd bring out selections from my personal library. Today, it was again time to "journey through the cosmos."

The hours slipped past as if by magic and I lost myself to the expansive reality into which all of humanity is born. More inspiring to me than religion or drug trips, reading outside was when I felt myself at peace; this was Nirvana.

As the sun began to lose its unchallenged dominance in the sky, I slowly closed the cover of my book and sat in an almost spiritual stupor. Thinking of all the amazing possibilities our universe presents to us, I made my way to the mailbox with my book tucked under my arm and my chair back in its canvas case over my shoulder.

_Perhaps there will be something other than bills and catalogues today…_

I had no idea.

Opening the door to the mailbox, I saw a small white box tied in golden ribbons pushed toward the back. I pulled it out with piqued interest and took it to the dining room table inside. Shrugging off the chair and its case and afternoon greetings alike, I pondered the package's contents.

"What could this be…?"

I mumbled quietly to myself as other paused to observe my strange package. Untying the ribbons and lifting up the white lid, there was but a small, blank golden ticket pressed into an indentation within the box.

"Whoa, what do you have there?"

"I don't know, Dad. I'm just as curious and bewildered as you are. It looks like some sort of prank from Willy Wonka. There isn't a return address label…Actually, there isn't an _address_ label either. It must have been hand-delivered…"

I carefully lifted the ticket out of the indentation and found a further cubby underneath. Contained within it was a small but striking set of instructions.

"One golden ticket. Awarded to the one with pure dedication to truth and dreams as one. Permits one (1) trip anywhere in space-time. One guest is permitted: alive, dead, or fictional. Do not attempt to question the validity of this voucher. Either use it, or destroy it. The choice is that of the endowed and the endowed alone. Signed, Clans Wedra & Draga."

A pause. My mother broke the stillness with a question.

"Who the hell are Clans Wedra and Draga?"

"I haven't a clue, honestly."

"How do you accept the trip? I assume you want to at least play along?" My dad's comment rang true.

I flipped the message over and it gave details.

_Write where you wish to go on the ticket. Also include travel companion selection, if any. You may travel alone. The ticket will take care of the rest._

"Ok then. I'm going to write what I want…and see how that goes."

My mom scoffed.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect you home for dinner, then."

"I'm not sure, Mom. I'm really not sure. I better figure out where to go and who to take with me…"

"Oh, honey. We both know that this story will inevitably unfold to be about you adventuring around the cosmos with Carl Sagan."

I froze and blinked slowly. I actually hadn't thought of that in all the racings my mind was going through, but I instantly knew that was the right answer. I frantically scribbled the words "cosmos" and "Carl Sagan" into the ticket and as my pen lifted after forming the letter N, the world went black.


	2. The Big Bang

Chapter 1 – The Big Bang

"How about we take a voyage to investigate the wonders of the cosmos?"

He reached out an inviting hang and smiled, staring into my eyes questioningly. I refrained from informing him that he had died and the only reason this was possible was my package: a magical, inter-dimensional warping ticket. Good for one use only. Probably for the best that he didn't know the details of our adventure-to-be.

"Yeah!" I radiated exuberantly.

Hardly able to contain myself, I jumped around a bit before settling down and being able to accept his out-stretched hand. He chuckled and my enthusiasm.

"You have quite a bit of energy. Excellent! It's wonderful to see people with such an interest in the universe. Sometimes I fear I'm one of the few left who truly wants to grasp the beauty and mystery of it all…"

"I'm ashamed to say that I often find myself agreeing with you in that respect."

The mood shifted drastically in this moment. A long, awkward break of contemplation passed as this statement hung in the air like a brick. Hand by our sides, it felt as if a cold wind began to wash over us, but the blooming cherry blossoms sat idle in the trees. I reached up to grab one with my free arm, a final token of comfort before leaving my home planet for what could seem like an eternity. I fell short.

"That is this tree's only defense from you, being just a few inches you superior."

Momentarily, I flashed a look of disappointment, but I tried to quickly replace it with one of excitement and eagerness. I did not succeed well. I stumbled awkwardly for words.

"Well then, um, are we ready to go?"

"Not yet. You must wait until the proper time."

"But what does that m—"

A strong gust of wind caught me unawares and I hastily let go of his hand and rushed to cling to his side. I was not frail, but the wind was one of the things that frightened me. Each time a strong gust would come by when I was indoors, I would cringe. If I were outside, I would impulsively reach for the nearest person to hold for comfort. As the gust finished its blow, I quickly pulled my head away from his chest and looked up in a form of pleading horror. _That can't be acceptable… You can't just cling uninvited to the side of a celebrity!_ I reeled back from him and walked straight into the trunk of the tree and slumped to my knees, on the verge of embarrassed tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm…I have a fear of the wind and it just…I don't know what came over me. I-"

I dropped my head down and tried to disappear. He cast a worried glance at me and walked over to where I sat. Kneeling down in front of me, he placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head away from his.

"Please," he urged, "relax. It's alright. We all have fears. And a hug is not the end of the world, is it? I doubt there is a single piece of scientific evidence for that claim!"

I laughed half-heartedly at his truthful yet witty remark.

"Look at me."

I shrank back in an utterly abysmal feeling of smallness. Not taking no for and answer, he grabbed my shoulders and used them to pull himself into alignment with my view.

"Either you're going to give up before we even start because of an unexpected incident, or you're going to go on this lovely trip with me. Which shall it be? I'll give you a moment to decide."

He promptly stood up and walked to the edge of the hill, staring out over the horizon. The way the sun was beginning to set in front of us made him look as if he were glowing. The question had hit home. _Why am I sitting here freaking out like a baby? He said everything was fine and this is a once in a lifetime chance. Why am I wasting it and ruining it like this. Stand up, idiot!_

"Ok." I stood up and dusted myself off. "Are we ready to go, then? Is this the proper time? After you get to see me have an awkward emotional spasm?"

He rotated himself 180 degrees and stood before me, hands in his pockets. He looked almost regal, standing there before me. _Though I don't think that royalty would wear a red turtleneck. It's simply not high-class._

"One moment," he pulled a gently crushed cherry blossom out of his pocket and smiled gently.

"I thought you said that—"

"This one drifted out of the tree when you were frightened by the wind. I grabbed it when you were…unaware."

I blushed at his kind attempt to mask the fact that I'd been stuck to him like a baby on its mother.

"Well, it's very pretty."

A pause settled over us again and the mood returned to serene. Nothing but the setting sun to indicate there was anything else in the universe other than us… His movement snapped me out of my trance. He pushed my hair back behind my ear and I froze at the sudden, unexpected touch. He settled the flower on my ear and, taking care, held it in place with a few strands of my hair. After the wave of shock passed, I felt myself positively blushing.

"Thank you…" I offered meekly.

Silence. He retook my hand.

"Ready?" he said.

"…I think so."

"Let's depart then."

He ushered me down to the grass. I sat next to him under that cherry blossom tree, gasping his fingers a bit too tightly in nervous anticipation.

"How are we supposed to go up there," I gestured to the sky with my chin, "if we're sitting on the ground?"

The wind began to produce a gentle breeze. It wasn't scary like the large wind. It was more like a watchful guardian of the Earth than a destroyer. My bangs tickled my nose; I wrinkled my face and giggled. He reached out in front of him for the small, dying dandelion swaying in the grass. I lay back in the grass and closed my eyes for an instant.

"Let's take a ride on the spaceship of imagination."

He sucked in a deep breath of air and blew the seeds off the stem.


End file.
